Elsa’s family have hit hard times, lost their house and have had to move into an overcrowded bed and breakfast hotel. She is teased about this at school. Elsa’s way of coping is to tell jokes and make everyone laugh. She dreams that one day she might become a big star and entertain even more people.

This extract comes from about halfway through The Bed and Breakfast Star by Jacqueline Wilson, from a chapter called ‘Pizza and Porky-Pies’. Elsa’s teacher (who has previously been overheard referring to Elsa as ‘just one of those bed-and-breakfast children’) has asked Elsa to write a story about herself. The picture Elsa paints is of a life rather more blessed than her own, in which all of her family have ‘showbiz’ connections.

Before reading

Explain the context of the extract.

Check children’s understanding of ‘bed and breakfast’ and its implications to family life.